– We’re leaving to go on our cruise today! We’ll be in Galveston for a few days and then our ship sails on Sunday. We’re so incredibly excited to share this big trip with Jackson and cannot wait. If you’re in the mood to read up on our past cruises while we’re gone, you can find the recaps here, here, and our honeymoon here and here

– I purchased a Groupon for a hair cut/color a few weeks back and have been saving it for right before our vacation. I finally got it done this week and I’m loving it – I had her do balayage highlights and it’s so fun and different.

– Jackson had his 18-month appointment yesterday…I can’t believe how quickly he’s growing! Look for his 18-month update next week while we’re gone!

– Packing for a week-long vacation with a toddler is pure insanity. I seriously contemplated the need to rent a U-Haul to get to Galveston!

*********

Here’s what caught my eye this week:

– Lily Rabe seems to be coming back with a bigger role on AHS this season. So excited – I love her!

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review-4/feed/0Day in the Life: Summer With a Toddlerhttp://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/day-in-the-life-summer-with-a-toddler/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/day-in-the-life-summer-with-a-toddler/#commentsTue, 28 Jul 2015 10:00:16 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5824It’s been a while since I’ve done a “Day in the life” post…I always love a peek into other people’s lives, so I thought it would be fun to share what a typical summer day looks like for us. We have a unique situation since both Corey and I are teachers – we get to be home all day every day as a family throughout the summer. It’s an amazing set-up, and I never want to forget how sweet these days are!

6:30 – My alarm goes off. Time to work out! I (slowly) get out of bed and head out the door for a quick run. It’s always so hard to get moving but I love how I feel the rest of the day, so it’s worth it! Currently I’m listening to B.J. Novack’s book, One More Thing while I run…it’s hilarious!

7:30 – I’m back home and hopping in the shower. By the time I get out, Jackson is awake and I hear him and Corey chatting in his room. I meet them in our room and hang out with Jackson while I get dressed for the day.

8:00 – I’m finishing up getting ready and Jackson is starting to ask for a “‘nack” so I know it’s time for breakfast. We all head downstairs and settle in for a quick meal.

8:30 – While I am cleaning up from breakfast, I see that Jackson has started to unload the dryer that I left open last night. He’s nothing if not helpful! I guess it’s time to put the clothes away, so I finish the kitchen and Jackson helps me bring the laundry upstairs to put away.

I put clothes away while he reads books and “helps” by throwing clothes all over the floor (and occasionally actually putting them where they belong).

9:00 – Clothes are put away, Corey finished his breakfast and got dressed, and we’re ready to head out the door! We have a few errands to run, and Jackson is always antsy to get out of the house in the mornings, so we’re off.

9:30 – We run by Babies R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Trader Joe’s. Jackson is always thrilled to go to TJ’s and play with the flowers while we shop (I always buy a bouquet and he always spends the whole time touching them).

Corey and I are thrilled to try a few things we haven’t had before…like this chocolate bar.

YUM.

11:00 – We’re done shopping and just got home. I unload the groceries and give Jackson a snack while Corey helps do some cleaning around the house. We have people coming over tonight, so I ask if Corey will hang with Jack for a while so I can clean. I rush around getting as much as I can done while they play with blocks and Jackson occasionally follows me around trying to steal the mop from me.

12:00 – House is almost clean, and Corey makes Jackson’s lunch for him while I finish up. After lunch, they sit and read on the couch for a while before Jackson asks me to play with him on the floor. We spend about 15 minutes playing before…

12:30 – Nap time! I need to work on a few things on my computer so Corey takes Jackson upstairs and lays him down while I get started. Corey then disappears to play some video games and I settle in on the couch for some blogging and Pretty Little Liars (don’t judge!).

2:30 – After some lovely, lazy time watching television, Corey comes out and joins me. We chat for a few minutes and soak up the last few minutes before Jackson wakes up.

3:00 – He’s up! I run upstairs to grab Jackson and Corey gets started marinating some chicken for dinner tonight.

We hang with him in the kitchen for a few minutes before my dad shows up to visit Jackson. Jackson has a huge “papa” obsession right now so my dad has been stopping by on his way home from work every once in a while. They play in the garage together for a while and Corey and I work on dinner. We always love when he stops by – it makes Jackson so happy!

4:00 – My dad’s visit is over and he has to head back home. Jackson and I watch him leave from the window and then spend some time playing on the floor. Corey starts an epsiode of Mad Men and we slowly make our way through it (with interruptions for Corey to take Jackson outside to play for a few minutes, for me to get Jackson a snack, etc. etc.).

5:00 – Our show is over and my sister and her family will be here anytime. Jackson and I have a dance party in the living room while Corey gets dinner cooking. We all putter around the house, putting food together, playing, and chatting until everyone arrives. Jackson makes a mess in the kitchen that I’ve just cleaned by pulling out all of our disposable dishes/silverware, stacking them on top of each other, and knocking them over, all while giggling maniacally. It’s a mess, but he’s happy and I’m able to work in peace, so I let it happen.

5:45 – Everyone’s here! We spend the evening eating dinner, chatting, and playing a game. Jackson starts rubbing his eyes at 6:30 on the dot (my kid knows his schedule!) so he goes down for the night while we keep hanging out.

9:00 – My nieces are tired so it’s time for them to go home. Corey and I clean the kitchen and spend a bit more time hanging out downstairs before we go up to bed – we’re both exhausted so we don’t watch any more television tonight.

10:00 – We peek in on Jackson and giggle at how he’s almost escaped his sleep sack. We debate fixing it and decide to leave him as he is. We head into our room and go to bed.

**********

And that’s what most of our summer has looked like! It’s lazy, slow (but oh so fast), and absolutely perfect. I’ll have to come back and read this post in two months when I’m in the full swing of school and be jealous of myself for all of this free time!

– We took a quick trip to visit some friends in Dallas. We got to play a ton of games together and they have a son a bit younger than Jackson, so it was a blast to see them together. It was pretty amazing how much more self-sufficient the kids are now and how they were mostly able to play together while we played games and kept an eye on them. Toddlerhood is the best!

– Corey took Jackson on a father-son date one morning and I got to clean the house in peace!

– We took a 100% spontaneous trip to College Station! We hopped in the car with plans to head to a local indoor playground and ended up finding ourselves on the road to Aggieland! It was so random and we had so much fun. We’ve made it a goal to take Jackson to visit every year of his life, and so far we’ve been successful (including the year I was pregnant).

– Jackson turns 18 months old today!

– I have a new favorite card game – Tichu. We played last weekend with our friends and I cannot stop thinking about it. I want to play every day!

*********

Here’s what fascinated me on the internet this week:

– This post on getting rid of toys inspired me to do a clean out of the toys we have in the living room. It felt so good to purge a bit and pack some stuff away to rotate in later!

– I need to follow this list to help me keep the momentum in purging our house of unnecessary stuff!

– We’ve been super into making antipasto platters for dinner lately. Here’s a great guide!

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review-3/feed/3Wardrobe Overhaul: Going Capsulehttp://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/wardrobe-overhaul-going-capsule/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/wardrobe-overhaul-going-capsule/#commentsTue, 21 Jul 2015 10:00:59 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5793I’m not a fashion blogger by any means (and I never will be!) but in the last 6 months or so I’ve started to pay much more attention to the clothes I wear and what’s in my closet. I have always been pretty low-maintenance when it comes to my wardrobe. I keep clothes until they practically fall apart and I do 95% of my shopping at Target and Old Navy. But, up until recently, I’ve not been very thoughtful about the clothes in my closet. I have entirely too many of those “stand in front of my closet full of clothes and complain about having nothing to wear” kind of days, and I have entirely too many pieces in my closet that I rarely wear.

Over the last few months, I’ve become intrigued by the idea of a capsule wardrobe. I’ve been following Un-Fancy for a while now and have searched “capsule wardrobe” on Pinterest more times than I can count. At first, I was staunchly against the idea of actually doing one myself – it’s a scary concept, really. But, the more I thought about it and the more I researched it, the more I wanted to just jump in.

My motto for this year has been “be content” – I’ve been working to find contentment and peace in every area of my life, but specifically with all of the “stuff” I have. I’m constantly yearning for more, and I don’t need it. I have all that I need (and then some!) and I’ve been working towards reducing my constant desire for more, more, more.

This new challenge (and trust me, it’s a challenge!) lines perfectly with my goals for contentment, and I think that by reducing my wardrobe to only the necessities, I’m going to find that I have so many more options and am so much happier with what’s actually in there. So, what’s my plan?

THE PLAN

– My first capsule will be for the fall and will span September-November. I’ll probably go ahead and officially “start” with it when I go back to work in mid-August, though.
– I’m reducing my wardrobe to 50-ish pieces. I’m not 100% decided on the number yet, and I’m not done cleaning out my closet yet. 50 sounds like too many to me (it feels too comfortable, and like I wouldn’t be pushing myself enough), so I’ll probably try to go lower. I’m undecided – I love the Un-Fancy model of 37 pieces, but I don’t know if I can get that low!
– My capsule will for sure include shirts, bottoms, jackets/cardigans, and dresses. I think I’ll also include shoes, but I’m not fully decided yet.
– My capsule will not include accessories, workout clothes, pajamas, or school/college t-shirts that I occasionally wear for work (though I am limiting myself on how many of those I can keep in my closet).
– I will not shop for clothing at all for the duration of my fall capsule. If I need to add anything for the winter, I can do some shopping as I’m putting it together.
– I’m not actually donating or getting rid of anything yet. As of now, I have all of my extra clothes in a giant pile on the bed in our guest room. I’m trying to leave things very open to myself just in case I have an “I have to wear that specific shirt moment,” but I doubt that will happen.

Here’s what my closet looked like when I first got started:

(Note that I had already started to do some clearing out on the bottom hanging rack when this photo was taken)

The process of actually narrowing down my wardrobe to no more than 50 pieces was incredibly intimidating to me. I’m a clothes hoarder so I have a lot of stuff in my closet. I decided to break the process into more manageable chunks to make things a little easier. So far, I’ve completed what I’m calling “Phase One”…

PHASE ONE

I did this phase one section at a time (short sleeved shirts, then tank tops, then long sleeved shirts, etc.). I took every single piece from that section out of the closet and laid it on the bed. Then, I made piles.

Pile one: I feel fantastic in this and could wear it ever day. Must-have in my capsule.Pile two: I like this a lot, but I’m not positive I have to have it. May or may not end up in my capsule.Pile three: I definitely don’t want this in my fall capsule.

The first pile was the smallest by far, and the second and third piles generally ended up with similar numbers of items in them. I didn’t think too hard about this phase – I went with my gut. Once I had sorted it into piles, I put away the things I knew I wasn’t using, put the rest back into my closet (I put a few empty hangers in-between the “must haves” and the “maybes”), and then I walked away.

Yes. I walked away, I stopped working, I didn’t think about it anymore.

I could feel myself getting overwhelmed by the number of pieces I still had left in my closet (50 seemed so unattainable!), and so I forced myself to take a break. I decided that I would walk away from the project for a couple of days or weeks, then re-visit it once I’d lived with my (partially) pared-down wardrobe a while. Here’s what my closet is looking like now:

(I forgot to snap a photo of the dress section, but trust me that it’s pared down just as much!)

Pretty big difference, no?

I still have a long ways to go – there are way more than 50 pieces left in here. But this is a major start. July isn’t even over and I don’t go back to work until the end of August, so I still have about another month to continue editing and work towards my magic number, whatever that will be. I’m planning on starting “Phase Two” soon, which will be to go through a second time and do the same thing – with a more critical eye. The second time around, I’ll put more thought into my choices, I’ll be more brutal, and I’ll be focused on eliminating as much as possible. Then, of course, “Phase Three” will be to settle on my final capsule!

I’m so excited about getting start with this, and I can’t wait to see how it all goes. Anyone else join the capsule wardrobe movement lately?

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/wardrobe-overhaul-going-capsule/feed/3Week in Reviewhttp://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review-2/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review-2/#commentsFri, 17 Jul 2015 10:00:30 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5811This week was probably the most low-key week of our summer so far. On Tuesday evening, Jackson started doing a bit of coughing and had a runny nose – we’re going out of town this weekend and really don’t want a sick kid, so we cancelled most of our plans for the rest of the week and spent a lot of lazy time at home.

We watched a friend’s baby on Monday for a good portion of the day – Jackson loved having a friend in the house, and it was so sweet to watch how he looked out for her when we were out and about. Melted my heart!

We went to a local park that was built for children with special needs (which means it’s also perfect for toddlers) one day for a few hours – Jackson had more fun than he’s ever had at a park and I couldn’t even get him to sit still to eat a snack (a rarity for this child)! I had to drag him out of the park crying because he wasn’t ready to stop playing, but it was so hot outside I was worried he was going to get sick if we didn’t leave! I definitely want to take him back here again before the summer is over – it was perfect!

We got Jackson’s hair cut this week – last time he had a cut, it was because I couldn’t take his crazy long hair anymore and didn’t want to pay for a haircut (it grows so fast!) so I did it myself. Big! Mistake! It looked pretty silly and I won’t ever be attempting that again. So, now that it’s grown out enough to actually be fixable, we took him in to have it taken care of. He loves going to get his hair cut and always behaves fabulously (thank goodness). I asked them to cut it nice and short so I don’t have to worry about coming back in a month, and it looks adorable. I can never believe how much bigger he looks after a haircut!

We’re headed out of town this weekend to visit some friends – we’ve been looking forward to it for a while now and I can’t wait to spend the weekend relaxing and enjoying our friends that we haven’t seen in a long time!

**********

Before I go, here are a few things from around the internet that stuck out to me this week:

– Ever forgotten to put on deodorant in the morning? There’s a super simple fix for that.

This chapter is all about choosing to find important and special moments in your everyday, mundane tasks. Household chores turn into an opportunity to bond and teach your kids valuable skills, and wait time at the doctor turns into a great way to connect. This chapter has really helped me change my attitude about down time in my life. I used to automatically reach for my phone when things got boring or uneventful, but now I stop and think about how I can connect with Corey or Jackson or whoever else is around me. I’m not perfect – I definitely still grab my phone sometimes – but I have noticed such a huge difference.

This is probably still the area where I struggle the most, to be honest. I feel like I’ve come a long way, but it’s still an automatic response to check Facebook or Instagram when my mind starts to wander, and I’m trying really hard to break that habit. I think it will get even easier for me as Jackson gets older and more verbal – right now I’m still mostly just talking to him, but when he’s able to talk back and really connect with me in those moments, I think it will be a lot easier to resist the phone!

Chapter 4: Recognize the Gift of Today

This chapter has been my favorite so far. By leaps and bounds. I don’t know if the words were just exactly what I needed to read or what, but I learned so much with this chapter and feel like it automatically helped me change my entire attitude. It’s all about setting aside the crazy stresses of life and the worries that don’t really matter, and embracing the quiet “moments that matter” with your family. This chapter (along with Chapter 6) inspired me to write this post for Hellobee and has calmed me from so many moments of frustration in the months since I read it.

Chapter 5: Take Pause

The first section of this chapter really stuck with me – she talks about how awesome it used to make her feel to pick up her daughter from preschool and see the euphoric excitement she had on a daily basis. She compares that to how she often responds when her husband or child walks into the room – not quite with the same level of excitement. It got me to thinking that I probably don’t always do a great job of making Corey feel like I’m excited to see him, and that’s such a simple change I could make to help him feel more loved.

My favorite part of this chapter, that I actually underlined and starred a few times in my copy of the book, is this:

“It’s time to slow down and listen. The world will undoubtedly keep whizzing by, but wait. Just wait. In times of stillness, joy and love can find you, bringing you closer to the place you are meant to be. Not only will you be fine, but you will be super fine. And that, my friend, is a lovely way to live.”

Powerful words, right? Such a great reminder that all of those distractions (like the dishes, the work you brought home, and the mail piling up on the counter) can wait, and the world won’t fall apart. You’ll be fine – super fine, even! – and you’ll get some quality time with your loved ones to boot.

Chapter 6: See Life Through Undistracted Eyes

The part that stuck with me the most in this chapter is what I referenced in my post I linked to above – the “moments that matter”. She talks about not allowing minor inconveniences in life to get to you and instead looking for ways those moments can be positive, and reminding yourself that those tiny moments are the ones that matter in your life – the big ones are the ones that make a difference. I’ve started a “moments that matter” list in my journal and have started to regularly ask myself in times of frustration if it’s a moment that really matters in the grand scheme of things – usually, it’s not. This is something I need to keep working on (and probably always will!) but I’ve come a long way!

*************

I can’t emphasize enough how much this book is changing my life. It sounds cheesy, but it’s been such a huge influence on me lately and has really helped me re-focus and change a few things in my life. It’s been amazing and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the book continues to change me!

Is anyone still reading along? What books have changed your life lately?

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/hands-free-mama-chapters-3-6/feed/0Week in Reviewhttp://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review/#commentsSun, 12 Jul 2015 19:27:25 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5787My favorite thing about summer (other than the whole “no work” thing) is that we have the opportunity to go out and do things as a family on a daily basis that we don’t normally do. Last summer it took all of our effort to get out and do something once a week, but this summer we’ve been out and about doing something every single day. It’s been a blast (for us and for Jackson!) and I love that we’ve gotten to check out so many places that we don’t go to regularly.

We’ve been to the pool or splash pad at least once (usually more) a week since the summer started. Jackson absolutely adores it, and it’s a great way to fill some time. We’ve recently heard lots of stories of local kids getting sick from bacteria at the splash pads, though, so we may have to rethink our plan…what a bummer!

You may or may not know that I have a slight obsession with Alice in Wonderland. I collect various versions of the book and movie and it’s my favorite childhood story. A local museum had an Alice exhibit so we had to go check it out – Jackson had a ton of fun, even though it was geared towards slightly older kids, and I loved going to see it as well!

We headed back out to one of the wineries with my best friend from college and her daughter for lunch one day – it’s halfway between our two houses, so it’s a perfect meeting spot, and we had a ton of fun. We love getting our two kids together, and lunch was fantastic!

Other than our “big” events, the week was filled with more of the usual…playing with blocks (“bocks!”) near constantly, going on family walks, and watching an ungodly amount of television. You know, typical summer!

How was your week?

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/week-in-review/feed/0Life Lately, Part 2http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/life-lately-part-2/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/life-lately-part-2/#commentsThu, 09 Jul 2015 10:00:07 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5785Ready to finish catching up with us? Let’s dive right in to where we left off – the beginning of the summer (aka: my favorite time of the whole year).

It was a bit bittersweet to leave daycare that last day of school, because it was Jackson’s last day in his current class. Next year he’ll be with a new teacher and his old one, the one who has had him since he was 7 weeks old, won’t be working with him anymore. I’m a little brokenhearted over the change, but I know he’ll have a good year next year…and we have the rest of the summer before we need to worry about it!

The beginning of summer was filled with as much fun as we could cram in. We went to a local splash pad (which is officially Jackson’s new favorite activity in the entire world), we spent a ton of time cooking together and letting Jackson use his new learning tower (which is officially my favorite invention in the entire world), and we just relaxed as much as we could possibly manage.

At the beginning of the summer Corey and I headed out on our first date in quite a while. We met some friends out at their house on the lake and visited a few local wineries. We hopped around and did tasting at different places, then we headed back to their house to go out on their boat. It was the perfect, idyllic summer afternoon and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. We’re hoping to do it again later this summer, and can’t believe it’s taken us this long to go check out the wineries that are so close to us!

We’ve also found a new obsession this summer – Trader Joe’s. We got one here in Austin a while back but we hadn’t ever tried it. I went on a whim when Corey was out of town for a One Act Play thing and I fell in love. I know for those of you who’ve had it forever this is old news, but my goodness I can’t get enough!

We headed to San Antonio for a weekend to visit our best friends from college. They have a daughter Jackson’s age and we love going to hang out with them. We went to Sea World and just spent the weekend enjoying ourselves and seeing one another – it was perfect! We loved letting Jackson experience all of the animals at Sea World, but he was still a little too young – he slept through quite a bit of the time we were there because he was just so exhausted from all of the excitement of the weekend!

Fourth of July was low-key, but perfect. We grabbed donuts in the morning at the new donut shop that just opened right down the street from us (dangerous!) and went to watch a local parade. We had planned on going to the pool right after but forgot towels so we headed back home instead and let Jackson play in his baby pool in the backyard. It was the first time we’ve broken it out and he adored it!

Whew. We’ve been busy! Now you’re all caught up on the excitement going on in our home lately – it’s been a perfect summer so far and I’m so grateful we’re only about halfway through it. We have so many more fun things in store for the rest of the summer and I can’t wait to get started!

To answer the questions I’ve been getting a lot lately: No, he’s still not back and yes, we’re still constantly checking the shelters. My heart still hitches a little every time I hear Cullen go crazy barking at the front window, and I still have dreams that he randomly shows up in the backyard.

Ugh.

Anyways. Let’s talk about something else.

I’ve been a bit very absent lately, so I thought it would be appropriate to catch you up on what’s been happening in our home lately. It’s a two-parter, because ain’t nobody got time to sit a read an entire novel on what’s up with my life.

Here we go:

This perfectly sums up how I felt about the end of the school year this year.

The spring semester was absolute insanity in our house. Corey is the co-director for the One Act Play in our district, which meant he had practices almost every night (and often lasting until past Jackson’s bedtime). They performed well which meant more and more competitions, several of which were far enough away that he had to stay overnight. In addition to that, he was very involved in UIL (an academic competition), and was gone several Saturdays in March and April for competitions. So, Jack and I had a lot of mommy-baby time in April and May!

We spent lots of time on FaceTime with dad, and Jackson learned to get very excited when I put the phone on speaker. It was so sweet to see how excited he got when he saw Corey’s face on that screen, and it made the time apart (a tiny bit) easier.

As hard as it was to do so much solo parenting over those few months, it definitely helped Jackson and I bond even more and gave me a ton of confidence as a parent. I felt like superwoman for getting everything accomplished all by myself, and I’ve never liked being alone so I think it was probably healthy for me to learn how to handle it better!

My second Mother’s Day was a total partial success. We had a baby dedication at church in the morning…who schedules these things for Mother’s Day? The last thing I wanted to be doing on Mother’s Day was wrestling my toddler into being quiet and still in front of the entire church while he screamed and tried to run away to knock all of the microphone stands over. Maybe this is why most people do it when their babies are younger? Unfortunately our church doesn’t do it very often and we missed out on the last one, so this was our only chance – it was important to my family, and to me, that we got to do this, so we soldiered on but my goodness I wish it had been on a different day! After that we celebrated with my family at one of my favorite restaurants and spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying ourselves – which was needed after our hectic morning!

Oh yeah, and let me tell you about that beard. I mentioned that Corey is co-director for One Act Play? Well, he has a superstition (left over from when we were in high school) about not cutting his hair throughout the length of the competition. This year, it extended to not shaving as well. He already hadn’t shaved since September-ish, so by the time practices started in January I was already desperate for him to shave…and we still had five months to go! Let’s just say it wasn’t my favorite look of his, and you’ll see it grow (and grow, and grow) throughout this post.

This was such an incredibly busy time for us, so on the nights where we were all at home and together we cherished every second. Like I said before, I’m not awesome at being alone so I definitely struggled with these few months!

At the beginning of May we got to focus on my job for a bit and headed to our local Special Olympics track meet. We go every year and always have a blast. This was Jackson’s second year going but last year he wasn’t mobile so it was a whole different ballgame this time around. He spent half the time running around and practicing his track poses as you see above…and the other half doing this:

Okay so maybe he didn’t spend half of the time screaming, but it felt like it. He didn’t really love the idea that he was supposed to just watch everyone else have fun and not actually participate.

We got a new dresser for our bedroom (more on that in a different post!) and Jackson had a blast at Ikea “helping” us push the cart. Can I just say this is the best age so far? I love that proud little grin!

The spring semester was mostly about Corey’s job and his accomplishments, but I had one major victory – getting asked to present at an education conference! It was a huge deal for me and so exciting to be asked to participate. I just attended the conference a couple of weeks ago, and the presentation went well – definitely a big and exciting first for me in my career!

I don’t know how far exactly this all made it in the news, but our area had some serious weather issues in late May. It rained for what felt like a billion days in a row, there was insane flooding all over the place, and I think we had more tornado watches/warnings in a two-week span than we have had in my entire life so far. There was one particularly scary day when Corey was out of town (it was right before the State One Act competition) where I had to spend a couple of hours holed up in the garage with Corey’s brother and dad and the weather was scary. Jackson handled it like a champ, but towards the end I did have to break out my laptop for some videos to keep him occupied – a real treat since he almost never gets screen time!

In late May (the last week of school, actually), it was finally time for the State One Act Play competition. I was so incredibly proud of Corey and his cast for making it this far but so incredibly ready for it all to be over! I took a half day off of work to go watch them perform, and I’m so glad I did – it was an incredible experience and I can’t express enough how awesome it was to see a team Corey worked that hard with accomplish that much. Corey and I started dating while doing One Act Play in high school, so it holds a very special place in both of our hearts, and I’m so glad he gets to be so involved with it.

Y’all. Do you see that beard? He looked like a homeless lumberjack! You can’t see the hair well in this photo, but let me tell you it was not cute either. Corey knows how I felt about this look, so let me be straight with y’all: it took every ounce of willpower in my body to not shave his entire head every night after he went to sleep. I wanted to throw a party when he finally let me cut it after the competition.

But, the good news is, I guess the superstition worked – Corey’s team won State (which hasn’t happened in our school district in a very, very long time)! I didn’t get home until about 3:00 in the morning after that competition and had to wake up at 5:30 to go to work the next day…let’s just say I was glad it was the last week of school!

Next up? Our summer so far!

What’s your life been like lately? Anyone else suck at alone time?

]]>http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/07/life-lately-part-1/feed/1Rangerhttp://loveandrenovations.com/2015/06/ranger/
http://loveandrenovations.com/2015/06/ranger/#commentsMon, 15 Jun 2015 16:50:35 +0000http://loveandrenovations.com/?p=5776I’ve sat down to write this post about five different times now, and I just haven’t been able to make myself do it. But as hard as it is to talk about, it’s time.

I’ve shared a lot about our lives with our dogsover the years. They were our babies before we had our actual baby, and they’ve always been an important part of our family. We always get told we are crazy for having three dogs (we can’t deny it – we are!) and as much chaos as they have added to our lives, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Which is why this is so hard.

About a month ago, we had some friends over – it was supposed to be just a small group of friends but it quickly morphed into more people than we ever anticipated, including lots of kids. Normally we keep our dogs in the backyard for the first few minutes after people arrive, then let them inside so they aren’t stuck in the yard all night. This night, however, there were several kids who had never been to our house and who were petrified of the dogs. There were also a lot more people than usual, and I knew it would just stress Ranger out to have him inside. The other two dogs got let in a couple of hours into the night, but Ranger is extremely socially anxious and didn’t want to come in so I kept him out there where I figured he was safer.

But then, some kids wanted to go outside to play in the yard. And I let them, because I figured Ranger would be more comfortable with a few kids in the backyard than the dozens of people in the house. But no adults were out there to watch them, and they were chasing him around the yard. Ranger is one of the most docile and sweet dogs I’ve ever known, so I knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt them…but I didn’t consider that without any other option, when he got stressed out, he’d look for an escape. The kids came in a few minutes later and told us he had gotten out of the backyard.

We had no idea it was even possible. There was a hole in the fence that we’d patched, but apparently not well enough. Corey and I immediately ran out to try and find him and began searching the neighborhood. We called my sister to help and a few people from the party came outside to help as well.

We spent hours searching. We all spotted him at one point or another, but he wouldn’t come to any of us (not even my sister, who is quite literally his favorite person in the entire world). The only consolation we have is that he wasn’t scared at this point or acting nervous. He was clearly thrilled to be running around and free, and he was panting and wagging his tail like he was having the best day of his life. But we couldn’t catch him.

Eventually we had to give up for the night, but we continued to search the neighborhood every chance we got for the next week. We posted his picture all over the internet, we called every shelter in the area, we left food out, we left our clothing out where we last saw him, we took the other dogs to help search…we basically did every single thing we possibly could to find him.

But we never did.

On Friday it will be one month since Ranger ran away, and we still check Craigslist and the local shelter every day. I’ve been running in our neighborhood in the mornings, and I constantly keep an eye out for him. My heart is in my throat every time we leave our house as I scan the streets and neighboring fields to see if there’s any sign of him.

Hadley has taken it the hardest. She constantly looked for him for the first few days he was gone, and she still hasn’t figured out how to play and get her energy out without him here. Jackson still checks for him every time we go to get Hadley out of her kennel, and I honestly expect him to be sitting by our front door every single time I come home.

There’s no good way to end this post except to say that our hearts are broken and we miss him dearly. We have heard many stories of dogs coming home after longer than this, so we still have hope. But a piece of our family is missing, and things just aren’t the same.